About the book
It is an autobiographical novel that narrates the author’s childhood and adolescence in the city of Ávila, from the late sixties to the early eighties. The book is an intimate and honest portrait of a time and place marked by Francoism, transition and social change.
The protagonist and narrator of the novel is Antonio Gálvez Alcaide himself, who is presented as a curious, sensitive and restless child, searching for his place in the world and his identity as a writer. Through his memories, the reader witnesses the events that marked his life: the death of his father when he was four years old, his relationship with his mother and siblings, his first friends and loves, his school and work experiences, his travels. and readings, their dreams and frustrations.
The novel is written in a simple and direct style, which combines nostalgia with humor, tenderness with irony, criticism with understanding. The author does not hide or idealize anything, but rather shows the lights and shadows of his past, with its joys and its sorrows, its successes and its errors. The result is a sincere and emotional work, which invites reflection and dialogue.
“From Ávila” is a novel that is not only interesting for its literary value, but also for its historical and social value. The author offers a personal and collective testimony of a generation that lived through the end of a dictatorship and the beginning of a democracy, with its hopes and challenges. The book is also a tribute to the city of Ávila, which becomes another character in history, with its beauty and its harshness, its tradition and its modernity.
In short, “From Ávila” is a novel that I recommend to all readers who want to get to know the author and his work better, as well as to all those who want to enjoy an agile and immersive narrative, which will make them travel in time and in the space. This is a book that leaves no one indifferent, that excites and that teaches.
Source: https://algunoslibrosbuenos.com/desde-avila
